I came a cross a nice article about the youngest and maybe 2nd youngest 7summiteers:

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FAMILY: Six hills down and one to goBILL LOHMANNTIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNISTTuesday, October 19, 2004

DAN LOCHNER AND THE SEVEN SUMMITS (TO FIND OUT MORE about Dan Lochner, to make a donation to prostate cancer research, or to help him in his quest to climb Mount Vinson, visit www.oath7.com )

University of Richmond senior Dan Lochner is hoping to spend part of his upcoming Christmas break down South.

In Antarctica.

I'd say that's taking "getting away" to the extreme, but Lochner has done a lot of extreme traveling in the last year or so.Actually, what Lochner has been on during that time is a mission. He wanted to become the youngest person to climb the Seven Summits of the world - the highest peak on each continent - and Mount Vinson in Antarctica will be the last.But a not-so-funny thing happened on the way to the record: Lochner found out someone had beat him to it.

Britton Keeshan, the grandson of Captain Kangaroo (Bob Keeshan), became the youngest person to complete the Seven Summits in May when he scaled Mount Everest. Technically, Lochner still has until Nov. 2 to claim the title because he's six months younger than Keeshan. But the point is moot since flights to Antarctica, which operate only during summer in the Southern Hemisphere, don't generally start until November because of the weather.

Naturally, Lochner is bummed, but he's taking it in stride."I'd still be the second-youngest," Lochner said the other day. "I'd still accomplish what I set out to do."

I wrote about Lochner earlier this year ("Peak Experiences: Scaling the World's Seven Summits is a Goal Within Reach of UR Student," Jan. 6) and have kept up with him through the year. Soon after that article appeared, Lochner climbed Mount Aconcagua in Argentina. Then in May, he summited Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain.

It was right about then that he heard about Keeshan, who happened to be climbing Everest, from a different direction, a few days behind him.

Small world.

It's smaller still when you consider that Lochner and Keeshan, who didn't know each other until now, grew up in neighboring towns in Connecticut, and that Lochner was supposed to be on the same expedition to Antarctica with Keeshan last January. But traveling to Antarctica and climbing Vinson costs an estimated $25,000 and Lochner decided to save his money for Everest. At the time, he was chasing a 23-year-old Japanese climber who had been the youngest to complete the Seven Summits, and Lochner figured Everest - also an expensive proposition - would be the most difficult of the seven to climb. Trying to spend his limited funds wisely, Lochner thought it prudent to get Everest in the bag and then worry about Vinson. He believed he had time.

It turns out he didn't.

But with six down and one to go, there's still a thrill to be had for Lochner. After all, how many people climb seven of the tallest mountains in the world before they turn 23?

Financing the trip has been almost as big a challenge as actually hiking up the mountains. He's used savings, put money on credit cards and tried to be as tightfisted as possible. Still, he's probably spent more than $35,000. Good thing he's an economics major.

So, how's his money holding up?

"It's not holding up at all," he said with a laugh.

He's found some corporate support for his venture, but not enough. He's not sure how he will be able to afford to climb Vinson in the coming months and return to school in January for what could be his last semester (he hopes to graduate next spring or summer). In fact, he's not sure at this moment that he can afford either. He might have to delay Vinson until next year.

Somehow, though, he figures he'll find a way.

"That's the only way I've done what I've done," he said. "In order to give this a shot, I had to sacrifice something."

He didn't sacrifice his dream.

Lochner took a liking to rock-climbing as a kid in summer camp. He heard about the Seven Summits and decided to try to climb them. By embarking on this quest, he also hoped to raise money for research into prostate cancer, which has stricken members of his family.

He's experienced some great moments - trying to keep warm on Everest, an impossible task, wasn't one of them - but none as great as standing on the top of Mount McKinley (also known as Denali) in Alaska. That was his first of the Seven Summits.

"Prior to that, I really didn't know if I could do any of this," he said. "When I reached that summit, I thought, 'Hey, I can actually do this!'" That's been his biggest discovery of all.

"I think everybody knows to some extent what they're passionate about, what makes them happy," Lochner said. "But acting on those thoughts is most difficult. I know what makes me happy is acting on those thoughts and not just pondering them and thinking it would be great.

"I think it's important to follow your heart and do what you think you ought to do."

Even if you wind up broke and in debt?

"Absolutely. I'd rather spend the money and be broke and know that I gave it a shot."

One thing that Keeshan and Lochner don't know is that a woman named Danielle Fisher from Washington state is on her way to become the youngest male or female to climb the seven summits.

I've climb Kilimanjaro with her in the summer of 2003 and now she has summited Denali, Aconcagua, Kili, Elbrus, Kosciuszko. She's going to Vinson in January and Everest in May of 2005 to complete the task. She will be about 20 years old if she can summit those last two mountains. If not, she has time to try again.

Good luck to her, she's a wonderful person. So if she succeed, Lochner will be the 3rd youngest 7 summiteer, bummer!!!